It was D-day, the start of #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 in Cote d’Ivoire, and we all needed to move to the magnificent Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpe in readiness for the opening ceremony as well as the tournament’s opener between Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau.
The stadium, 60,000-capacity and opened just three years ago, is about 34km from my apartment but we had no idea of what was ahead of us while heading out to the venue. Despite arriving around the stadium more than two hours before kick-off, we could not make it into the venue. At this time the opening ceremony, which featured Nigerian singer Yemi Alade had gone far and they were about to round up before we got close.
READ MORE: AFCON2023 Diary 1: Akwaba! Cote d’Ivoire at last!
Let’s talk about the trekking to the venue. Judging by my eyes, my friend Chris Emenyonu and I trekked for over 30 minutes after our Yango (the Uber/bolt in CIV) dropped us at the drop zone. The forced exercise made me remember the day I trekked from Kudeti to Olomi (If you know Ibadan well) – not the same distance, but I am sure it was not far off. The only takeaway from the waka was that we caught a perfect glimpse of the fireworks and they were beautiful. We took a few pictures as we tried to make our way into the stadium but we had to pick up our Media match tickets first.
Unfortunately, we did not get it despite the approval we got from CAF hours before the game. In short, it was thrown open and several persons gained access to the Media Tribune. By the time we got there, we met a mammoth crowd with several gentlemen of the press sitting on the stairs or trying to hang somewhere. Chris and I had to settle for a seat on the stairs too before the game got underway. Another problem was the terrible network encountered, even the WIFI provided by the organizers could not help us. What a shame!
On the pitch, the match went accordingly for the hosts but it was not an awesome experience for me and my colleagues. After the game, the trek earlier flashed in my memory but relief came when we were informed about a bus going in our direction – Cocody. After several minutes of waiting for the rest of our colleagues to join us, we zoomed out of the stadium around midnight. In the end, we got back to our apartment but sleep did not come until past 3 am local time.
It was the most stressful day yet, but I had fun in my little way witnessing the opening ceremony of the biggest football tournament on the continent of Africa.
Merci! Ã demain.
